Chapter Twenty-Two Double Exposure

Chapter Twenty-two

Double Exposure

"Ru—"

"What the fuck, Lee?" Rupert spat venom, as though he couldn't even believe what he was seeing. "What the actual fuck ?"

"I'm sorry—"

"You're sorry? You're fucking sorry ?" Rupert scoffed, scraping a hand through his hair. "This is my wife's remembrance. You are aware of that?"

"Of course I am." Lee remained composed, unwilling to rise to Rupert's wrath. He was the one in the wrong here. He deserved everything Rupert threw at him. "I didn't come here to cause a scene."

"Yet you kiss Eddie? Had your hands on my son? My child !"

"He's not a child."

"He's my child!" Rupert punched his chest. "Mine and Lori's."

"I know. And I'm sorry—"

"Is it a midlife crisis? Is that what this is? A reaction to the bridge? PTSD. Please, Lee, tell me what this is to you?"

"I don't know ."

Rupert flinched and Lee calmed to, lighter and softer, repeat, "I don't know, Ru. I don't fucking know ." He scratched a hand through his hair. "I didn't come here for anything other than for you. For Lori. And I'm so damn sorry you found out about me and Eddie the way you have."

" You and Eddie? There's a you and Eddie ?"

Lee didn't answer. How could he? He wasn't sure if there was or could be a he and Eddie.

"Kissing him outside the pub where my entire family are, our entire friendship group is, is hiding it, is it?"

"I wasn't trying to hide it, either. I came here for you. For Lori. But when I saw him…" Lee inhaled, sharp and fierce. "I couldn't help it."

"Couldn't help what? Putting your damn hands on him?"

"Yes."

Rupert flinched. Swallowed. Baulked. As if he hadn't expected Lee to be so honest. But he had to be. Had to try to explain, at least. But then, "Have you fucked him?"

" Ru …"

"Jesus, Lee." Rupert turned away, scraping a hand through his hair. "I don't think I want to know anymore."

"It wasn't something I planned."

"Thank fuck for that. I hope to God you didn't plan your way into sticking your dick into my son!"

"Ru—"

"No, Lee! No ." Rupert pointed a menacing finger at him. "You don't get to be the calm and rational one here. You don't get to talk to me like I'm a civilian on the street."

Lee held his tongue. Rupert needed to vent. So he let him vent.

"After everything this family has done for you." Rupert shook, prodding his chest with a finger. " I've done for you. How I've defended your actions at every turn. How I've believed all this time that you've been the victim. Treated wrongly. What am I to believe now?"

"I hope you still believe all that. I hope you still see me as Lee. Your friend."

"My friend ?"

"Yes, Ru. Your friend. Your best goddamn friend."

"And this is how you treat friends, is it?" Rupert scolded, his voice like leaden poison. "You know, I always believed Megan and Cora and all those other women who came in and out of your life were the ones with the problem. Megan cheating on you. Cora throwing you out. I thought they were crazy. But now …" Rupert stumbled back, glancing to the window where Eddie, Olivia, Cora and others gazed out as if rubbernecking a road traffic collision. "I had no idea how selfish you really were."

Lee choked at that punch to his gut, at the indication that Rupert might think he was one of those dirty old men, and it spilled everything inside him like vomit on a pavement.

"Jesus, Ru. Do you think that? Do you really think I didn't battle with all of this?"

"You tell me."

"I did, Ru. I fucking did . Had this been anyone else, I would have come to you. I would have called you up, told you I was having feelings for someone I hadn't ever expected to. Told you I was shit fucking scared of how I was feeling. How it felt different to anyone else and how my old man made me shit scared of ever feeling this."

"Lee—"

"And you would have talked me off the ledge. Like you always do. Like we do for each other. You'd have reminded me how my dad was a dick. How he's not here anymore to make me feel small and less of a man. And you'd have smiled about it all. Said when we get home, let's pack up the car and go climbing. Talk about it while we're tackling a rock face, so I don't have to look at you when I tell you I'm falling in love with another man."

Lee shook, trembled, eyes welling. Rupert stared at him, frozen, unable or unwilling to respond, enabling Lee to let it all out. All of it.

"Then we would have nailed that rock face, grabbed a beer from the boot and watched the sunset like old times. You might have even told me this is it. This is what I've been looking for, yet been so consumed by fear to have found it before. You might have said this is real , and that's why it feels so damn scary. Then you'd have done what you always do. Encouraged me. Made me braver. You'd have told me to go for it. Jump in. Take a chance. And say how you'd be there for me like I've been there for you. Then you'd invite us round for one of your barbecues and it would have been so damn perfect ."

Lee inhaled, chest rising, then exhaled around his defeat as he held Rupert's gaze. "But I couldn't do any of that, could I, Ru? Because it's Eddie. I'm feeling all this over your Eddie."

Lee sniffed, wiping under his nose with his sleeve and willed for the pieces of his thrashing, broken heart not to scatter the pavement between them .

"I'm not a dirty old man, Ru," Lee mumbled to the ground. "I'm not. And it hurts so damn much for you to think I am."

Silence fell over the garden, only the distant sounds of cars and ducks floating along the pond.

Then, "I think you should go," Rupert said, voice low and beaten. "I don't want to deal with this now. Not here. Not today."

Lee nodded, heart heavy with the weight of Rupert's words. His disappointment. His anger and resentment. He'd expected it, but couldn't bear how he'd made Rupert feel those things on the anniversary of his wife's death. The conflict had him reeling. He wanted to be with Eddie. To offer him what he needed on this day, but he had to respect Rupert's decision. So, without a word, he turned and walked away from the sombre scene, mind racing but body numb.

Rupert didn't stop him.

No one stopped him.

He walked the streets in the dark toward the tube station, memories of his past with Rupert flooding his thoughts. Of how Rupert had been right. He'd always been there for him. They'd been there for each other. A lifetime of brotherhood. Climbing mountains, laughing around bonfires, standing shoulder to shoulder at each other's weddings as best men and holding him up at Lori's funeral. They'd supported each other through all of life's trials and triumphs. Now everything was fragile. Broken. Shards of glass cut through their friendship as if it was an actual physical thing.

He jumped on the first tube skating into the station and fell into a seat, resting his head on the glass partition as the realisation of what had happened, what he'd done, hit him like a stray bullet to the heart. He'd jeopardised not only his friendship with Rupert but now any chance he might have had with Eddie. He should have stayed away like he'd planned. But the overwhelming guilt of not being there had eaten through his conscience and he'd turned up, only to hear Eddie's song. About him. And how all those feelings he'd tried to bury, tried to leave back in America, had rushed back to him like a tidal wave. He'd needed to breathe. Then, when Eddie had joined him, it had been like his entire body wrenched toward him and he needed to kiss him more than he'd needed the air.

He'd ruined everything with that kiss.

A mix of longing and despair, Lee sat in silence, echoes of the argument lingering in his ear louder than the train wheels screeching on tracks.

* * * *

Eddie lurched toward his dad as he came back into the pub, everyone else on tenterhooks, unsure how to act as though they hadn't heard.

"Where's Lee?"

Rupert barged past him to the bar, dumping his elbows on the surface. "Whisky, Graham. Please."

"Sure thing, Ru."

Eddie joined him. "Where's Lee?"

"I told him to go."

"You can't be mad at just him."

Rupert flicked his deadly glare on Eddie. "Who says I am only mad at him?"

Eddie swallowed the lump in his throat as Graham handed Rupert's drink over and he knocked the lot back. Visions of when he'd peeled his father from this pub after he'd learned of Lori's Motor Neurone diagnosis, then again when she'd deteriorated quickly, then again when she'd died, filled his mind and his anger flared. He'd yelled at him, then. Asking him to be his father. To be Olivia's father so he could grieve too. His father's feelings had always come before his own.

Not anymore.

"For once, Dad, this isn't about you."

Rupert held his glass out to Graham. "Another."

Graham took the glass, but gave Eddie a cautious glance.

"Go on," Eddie said through gritted teeth. "Bury your head. Ignore what's happening. Let me deal with it." He pushed away from the bar, Rupert not bothering to look at him, and he battled through the onlookers to step outside the pub, checking the yard and the side beer garden for any sign Lee was still there. When he couldn't see him, he tugged his jacket around him to stave off the biting chill and went to run across the road.

"What would Lori say?" hollered from behind him and halted his escape.

Cora had stepped out of the pub, eyes as wounded as Rupert's were. Neither were valid in their hurt. Both brought it on themselves. Why was this Eddie's fault? Why did Eddie always have to suffer so others wouldn't?

Condensation floated from his lips when he spoke to the concrete. "She'd tell me not to get hurt."

"So why are you?"

"Why am I what?"

"Going to get hurt?"

"Who says I will?"

Cora stepped in closer to him, the door to the pub slamming to a close. "He doesn't know what he wants. Needs. Never has. "

Eddie chewed on his bottom lip. "What if what he wants, needs , is me?"

Cora waited a moment, chest rising. "Then you're a lucky man." She tilted her neck. "But do you really believe that?"

Eddie shrugged.

"He's not well. Damaged. Broken. Needs a lot of care."

"Something I'm good at then." Eddie went to launch over the road, then twisted back to Cora. "That's what Mum would say. Go take care of him, because she knew how well I took care of her when no one else did."

Not waiting for her response, he trotted over the road, rushing down the street toward the tube station.

The platform was empty, as was the train that screeched in after eight minutes of him jiggling on the spot. He boarded, trembling with anticipation. He couldn't sit and clutched the pole as the train shunted forward. Ten stops later, he was at Stratford. He'd not been to Lee's place before, but he knew where it was. His dad had written the address on their family white board in the kitchen and Eddie had memorised it, looking it up on a map to see how far he'd gone.

He arrived, climbing the stairs to the top floor, counting the door numbers and stopped outside the one he wanted. Inhaling a breath, he knocked.

A tussle from behind, then the door swung open and Lee stood there, eyes slack until he saw him. Really saw him. Eddie was cautious, waiting for the invite, but Lee grabbed him, pulling him inside and kicking the door shut. Only then did Eddie exhale. Lee forced him against the wall and kissed him.

Hungrily. Longingly. Desperately .

Eddie's pulse raced as Lee melded into him in a frenzy that stole his breath. Then his tongue plunged into Eddie's mouth, their teeth clicking together in their haste to be closer and he devoured him as though starved. It differed from their last encounter, when alcohol and drugs had clouded Lee's judgment. Adrenalin and desperation scented his kiss this time and Eddie melted into it, knowing it was all Lee. That Lee wanted him. Needed him. His lust, yes. But the frantic need to rekindle the connection they'd found from each other in America.

Eddie could feel the rapid pounding of Lee's heart against his own and he panted, removing his mouth from his. Lee's whisper was hoarse and unfettered when he said, "I do need you, Eddie." He kissed him again, deeper, more demanding. "And I want you."

Eddie raked his fingers through Lee's hair. "Then what you waiting for?" There was a tremor to his voice, but it didn't matter. It wasn't fear. Or reservation. It was for this moment—raw and real and full of possibility. They were both searching for something to hold on to amidst the chaos of their lives.

And what they'd found was each other.

Lee tugged Eddie away from the wall, leading him through a maze of scattered boxes and luggage, movements clumsy and frantic, fuelled by desire and impatience. They stumbled into Lee's bedroom, where a single lamp cast a warm, inviting glow over the rumpled sheets and cluttered surfaces. Lee tackled him to the bed, nipping his neck, along his throat, and back up to discover his mouth.

His hunger was palpable. As though Eddie could touch it and quench it, and as he and Lee shed layers of their clothing, Lee's touch danced across his skin. Naked and revealed, Lee rediscovered him with raw, unhinged passion and Eddie roamed his hands over Lee's broad shoulders, the strength and vulnerability intertwined with how he loomed over Eddie with caution.

"Missed you," Eddie whispered into his ear. "Missed you like this."

Lee rose on his arms, desire and longing in weathered eyes stealing Eddie's breath. "Missed you too." He kissed him, languid and inviting, tongue swiping away the torment for them both. "Missed your lips. Your tongue." He licked up his neck. "Your skin." He ran a hand down Eddie's side, gripping him to the bed, and gazed down at him as if he were made of glass. "Your body." He lifted his eyes to meet Eddie's. "Your mind."

Their bodies fused together, as they had been when thousands of miles away, shedding layers of doubt and hesitation, and Eddie let out a soft, needy moan, as Lee's hardness pressed against his own. He shivered at Lee's urgent touch. At his hands and tongue roving his body as if studying every curve, every dip, committing them to memory in case this might not happen again.

It would.

Eddie would make it.

Eddie reciprocated with equal thirst, tracing his fingers over the lines on Lee's rugged face, his stubble scratching his skin in delightful contrast to the tenderness Lee honoured him with. Lee tickled fingers over his nipple, licked down to his navel and to his seeping cock. He glanced up and Eddie inhaled an anticipatory breath as Lee took his length in his hand, starting with gentle caresses that he then worked into his mouth.

Eddie sank into the crumpled sheets, scents of Lee pulsating through him to make him starved with lust. Then Lee's hot, wet mouth engulfed his cock and Eddie moaned. "Fuck, Lee . "

Lee sucked on him. Without caution. Without fear. With the gluttony of a man who'd been thinking about it for a while. Maybe even learning how from videos found on the internet. Eddie raked his fingers through Lee's hair, lifting his head from the pillow to watch the glorious marvel of his dick plunging in then out of Lee's willing mouth.

"Fuck, Lee. That's good. Real good. God, yeah ." Up, down, sucking and gorging, Lee had Eddie delirious, and he fell back to enjoy it. If this was all it was tonight, he'd take it. He'd be fine with it. Another experience ticked off. Another fantasy fulfilled.

But Lee slurped off, crawling over him and using that dirty mouth to kiss him as he fumbled around his bedside table. "Can I fuck you?" he rasped into his ear.

"You better."

Lee rolled off, a small tube of lube waiting in his palm.

"Wait." Eddie scrambled up, taking the tube from Lee, then forcing him onto his back. "Let me."

Lee shimmied onto his back, watching through hooded eyes as Eddie worked the lube into himself, then slathered Lee's cock. He then straddled him and Lee glided his hands up Eddie's thighs, looking at him with such heartfelt longing, Eddie wasn't sure he could do this without crying. But he needed to. He needed to see Lee while he did this and not have him buried in his neck, or focusing on his thrusts. So Eddie leaned down and kissed him one last time. Lee moaned through the kiss, clutching Eddie's face, ravaging his hair with his fingers, and his knees came up to Eddie's back, urging him closer and crashing their mouths together.

Eddie dragged himself away from the kiss, breaking their contact as he rose to his knees. He took Lee's cock in one hand, using the other to hold the headboard for balance, then held Lee's cock to his entrance. Their gazes locked, and he lowered down onto Lee's eager erection, Lee's cock stretching him, filling him, completing him.

Lee gasped beneath him, hands coming up to grasp Eddie's hips. Eddie rolled his pelvis to get more of Lee inside him and he groaned, setting a slow pace that had them both clawing for breath. Lee's lips shaped into a delirious, " Oh ," as though he didn't have the air to speak. Eddie couldn't take his eyes off him.

The way his skin glowed in the dim light of the room.

How his muscles rippled and tensed beneath Eddie's touch.

The way his lips parted on every moan and the delicious gasps that escaped them.

He was astounding. Stunning. Tough and brutal made weak and his.

Eddie was falling deeper and deeper into this moment – into this connection with Lee – and it scared him almost as much as it thrilled him. But he wouldn't let fear stop him. He wanted to taste Lee's gasps, instead sliding two fingers into his mouth to feel them and Lee sucked on them as Eddie kept their rhythm, riding him.

Skin slapped skin and their desperate moans and gasps of pleasure bounced off the walls to ricochet to next door. Eddie didn't care, the tension building and pressure mounting until they were both on the edge, with Lee's hands digging into his thighs as he slurped on Eddie's fingers.

Lee hauled up to sit, one hand clutching Eddie's shoulder, the other wrapping around Eddie's cock as he thrust his hips, grunting to take the reins from Eddie and control it all. Eddie let him, Lee's cock plunging inside him, hitting that oh-so-perfect spot time and time again .

"Fuck, Lee, fuck," he gasped, wrapping his arms around Lee's shoulders and drawing their chests together.

"Baby…" Lee's voice was like a switch to Eddie's craving and he shivered as Lee clutched his hair, thrusting up and up, cock impaling him deeper and deeper. "So good. So hot." His grip on Eddie's cock tightened, and he jerked it in time with their crashing bodies. "Move." He then picked Eddie up off him, spinning around and crawled up behind him, Eddie somehow finding himself on all fours and Lee mounting him, tough body spooned over him, and seared his cock back inside him.

"Oh, fuck ," Eddie gasped as he felt the first wave of pleasure wash over him with Lee now behind him, controlling how hard, how deep, how blissful. "Fuck, fuck. Yes !"

" Eddie ." Lee grasped his hips, slamming into him with erratic thrusts, sweat pouring onto Eddie's back. "Fuck. I'm near."

Lee fell forward, his whole body almost on top of Eddie, their skin slick, leaving a trail of sweat from Lee's chest on Eddie's back. Eddie reached for the headboard to lift himself up, Lee's lips nipping his neck. The musky scent of sex filled the air, making it almost tangible and driving Eddie to the edge as he fisted his cock.

Eddie could feel his orgasm building, and he slowed the pace to temper it. "You first," he breathed out. "Fuck me, Lee. Need it."

Lee groaned, deep and feral, slaps of flesh fast and furious, and Eddie jerked harder on his cock, trying to match his rhythm. But then Lee slipped out of him and, with a flip and kick, Eddie was on his back, legs in the air, with Lee over him, kissing him. "Eddie, baby …" He eased his cock back inside him, Eddie raising his hips from the be d, and Lee dragged his hand along Eddie's arm, finding his hand and entwining their fingers. He gripped and thrust. "Eddie… God , Eddie." His face twisted, merging into unfettered euphoria and he clasped Eddie's hand as he spilled himself inside him with a deep moan that vibrated through Eddie's chest.

Eddie didn't want him to come out of him. He wanted Lee to stay inside him forever, and Lee panted into his neck, riding out the last waves, gripping his hand as if he, too, felt the same. Eddie didn't even need his own orgasm, because this was everything.

But Lee wriggled from him, spent cock sliding out to leave him hollow and sank lower and lower until he once again had Eddie in his mouth. Eddie moaned and jerked up involuntarily, hands fisting the sheets as he arched his back, every inch of Lee's talented mouth encasing him in hot, wet heat. He sucked as though he'd been doing it all his adult life. Saliva building and dripping and his eyes met Eddie's, a fierce intensity in them as he gazed up the length of Eddie's body, cock filling his mouth as if proving to him he was loving it.

"Fuck, Lee." Eddie bucked. "That's good. Yeah. Good."

Lee smiled around Eddie's cock, sucking gently, stubbled cheek rasping against his thigh. He slurped off momentarily to utter a hoarse, "Could do this all night if you need me to?" He then swallowed around Eddie's throbbing erection, throat muscles flexing as he took him deeper.

Eddie wouldn't last all night.

Barely two sucks more, and he shook, coming hard and fast, groaning into the air as Lee drank him dry.

Lee let him go, slurping off as Eddie's cock continued to pulse against his belly and Lee lay his cheek on his hip, stroking his hand over Eddie's thigh, up to his chest. Eddie grabbed it. Laced their fingers together and let the moment run its course. Let their breaths return. Let the intensity of their reunion flicker over the desperation.

"I'm glad you came today," Eddie said after a while, voice echoing over the silence as he stared at the ceiling.

Lee lifted from Eddie's thigh to look at him. "I'm glad you came here ."

"Are you?"

Lee clambered up to fall down beside him and hauled Eddie to him. They lay facing each other, Lee's arms around him like a strong security blanket. "Of course I am."

"This is messy," Eddie said, wincing but needing to have the conversation. He couldn't be let down again. It was all or nothing this time. "And I don't just mean…this." He swiped a hand over his belly, leftover cum crusting his pubic hair.

Lee ran the tip of his nose over Eddie's and captured his lips in a kiss that tasted of alcohol and sex and…love. "If you're also referring to the state of this flat, I've not been in the right headspace to clean recently."

"Because of the divorce?"

"Because of you ."

Eddie wanted to smile but thought that might be inappropriate, considering the fallout already happening around them. He kissed him instead. "This could work."

"Could it?"

"If we let it. Give it a chance."

Lee inhaled, then rolled onto his back, tucking an arm behind his head to gaze up at the ceiling. Eddie edged forward, resting his chin on Lee's chest, wide puppy dog eyes hoping to keep Lee with him and not in a tirade of tumbling reasons they had to keep away from each other .

"Rupert—your dad said some pretty harsh truths today."

"He's blindsided. That's all. He does that." Eddie kissed Lee's chest, watching the hairs rise with goosebumps.

Lee stroked Eddie's back in soothing motions, calloused fingertips grazing his spine. "I don't think he'll get over this. Forgive me."

Eddie sighed, nostrils flaring, and Lee glanced down at him. Eddie gave a lopsided smile filled with melancholy.

"It'll fucking hurt to lose him." Lee glided his hand down to the bump of Eddie's arse. "I've known him most of my life. It'll be like severing a limb."

Eddie couldn't prevent the frown, and he had to look away. After everything. After this…Lee still couldn't find the courage to make this work?

"To be honest with you, Dad would sooner ditch me than you."

Lee's breaths seemed to stop, and Eddie chewed on his lip. He believed it. Wholeheartedly. When everything with his mum had happened, it was Lee who Rupert confided in. Lee was always on Rupert's mind. Eddie was an afterthought at best.

Lee rolled over, shimmying down to face him. "That's not true."

"Dad's never known how to bond with me. I wasn't the son he expected. He couldn't mould me into a lawyer, or a copper, or a rock climber. I was a sensitive, attention seeking, drama loving, gay kid who hates heights. We have nothing in common."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't love you. And I'm not taking his side, not anymore, but you have to know how much he adores you. He's not good at showing his emotions. Neither of us are. We weren't brought up that way. It's why we went climbing. It's amazing what you say to each other when hanging on a rockface. He talked about you all the time. From the moment you were born, he was smitten. And I knew then what I know now."

Eddie furrowed his brow. "Know what?"

"That you always come first. Lori, you, Liv. You are his family. I've been on the periphery since Lori entered his life, pushed further out when you and Liv were born. It's sort of why I wanted my own family. I wanted what he had. But that didn't happen. I'll always be on the outside. Alone."

Eddie squeezed him closer. "No, you won't. You have me."

Lee kissed him. "But for how long?"

"As long as you'll have me."

"I'm not sure you're ready for all this."

"Lee, babe, I've been ready for this, for you , for rounding on a decade."

"You're young. Your movie career has just begun. You'll be famous soon enough. Tom Ford will recruit you to advertise their damn cologne. And I'm old. With no job. Unsure what I'm going to do with this latter half of my life. And I won't have this body forever."

"I'm not here for your body."

Lee arched an unconvincing eyebrow.

"Okay, I admit, at first, it was your hot bod that attracted me. I can't help that I knew you in your thirties when you were the epitome of a male sex god. But you're grey now, more lines, craggier—"

"Thanks, Ed."

Eddie chuckled. "I still find you attractive. You . And you could add six stone or shed six stone, lose all your muscle. Lose your hair. Your fucking teeth . I'd still want you to fuck my brains out and suck my cock exactly how you just did. Bravo, by the way. Standing ovation."

"How romantic."

Eddie inhaled, psyching himself up. "I'm in love with you, Lee. One hundred percent, all in, smitten and crazy for you. I don't expect you to say it back. I know that might take time, but I want to be who you reach for when you wake up or when you can't sleep. I want to help you sleep. I want to cook for you while you laze on the sofa in your slippers. Watch sad old movies with you. Buy dishwasher tablets with you. I want to hold your hand. Cry with you. Argue with you. Then have great make-up sex and know that everything is okay. We're okay. Because this works. We work."

Lee's breaths were hard. Laboured. As if his pounding heart wasn't allowing him to catch air. "What about when the movie comes out?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you want me to take this step with you, then I'm not sure I want to do it hidden away. If I'm out, you should be too. I'll be losing my best friend over this."

Eddie thought about that. Long and hard. As if he hadn't been thinking about it for the past month already. "I always said the only reason I'm not declaring anything to anyone is because I had no reason to declare. Yes, I've been warned the roles might dry up if I came out. That I might not become the next big thing. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be someone. Because, with Mum, I lost myself. Threw myself into acting and playing a role. But now, I just want to be someone to you."

Lee squeezed him. "You are someone to me."

"Then I want you on the red carpet with me and the world watching. "

Lee chewed his bottom lip. "Okay, but how about before we go tell the world we tackle your dad first? I need to at least try to make him understand this."

"All right. Tomorrow we'll go see him. As a unit. He can't separate us. Now sleep, ‘cause I know you haven't in weeks."

Lee smiled, kissed his nose, and held him. "You're not wrong, baby. You're not wrong."